Winter in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park

A view of Yellowstone National Park, taken by one of the park's winter caretakers, Steve Fuller.

For more than four decades Fuller has worked as a winter keeper, helping protect park buildings and property during the cruel winter months. The scenery provides a clear key to his passion for solitude: "What an extraordinary landscape, eh?" he marveled.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Credit: Steve Fuller

Winter Caretaker

Winter caretaker Steve Fuller, one of
just a handful of hearty souls who remain in this wilderness long after the summer
tourists have gone.

Credit: CBS News

Winter Caretaker

There is a lot to keep Fuller busy. While
parts of the park remain open, many of the facilities have to be tucked in for
the park's long winter's nap, which starts the first Monday in November.

Fuller must then protect the structures from the damage wrought by wind, snow and ice.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Yellowstone National Park

But it's not all work. Fuller never lets a winter slip by without
capturing it with his camera.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Yellowstone National Park

Most Yellowstone winter keepers last only a few years tops. But Steve has stuck out this solitary
existence for 42 years, ever since the winter of 1973.

"I was the only applicant," he told CBS News' Lee Cowan, "which is the
only reason I got hired. I was paid $13.25 a day."

Credit: Courtesy Steve Fuller

Winter Caretaker

Fuller uses a saw to slice through the snow (he wields a traditional two-man timber saw which he modified with a shovel handle).

Credit: CBS News

Ice Shelf

Left: A younger Steve Fuller demonstrates his methods for clearing a roof. After making saw cuts, he pops the blocks of snow free with a shovel.

Credit: Courtesy Steve Fuller

Rooftop

He also uses his greatest
ally: Gravity.

Credit: Courtesy Steve Fuller

Rooftop

The weight of winter threatens to crush the now-deserted Canyon Lodge and other buildings in his keep.

"It's one of my hundred problems here," said Fuller, who has about 100 buildings to take care of.

Credit: Courtesy Steve Fuller

Winter Caretaker

Fuller said that when he explains to people his job as caretaker, "their immediate
response is, 'Have you seen 'The
Shining'?" he laughed.

Credit: CBS News

Visitor

A bison pays a visit to Steve Fuller's cabin.

It's an isolated existence during the winter months. The nearest town is two hours away by snowmobile.

"The expectation was that you were in here for the Winter,"
he said. "You got snowed in until you got plowed out."

Credit: Steve Fuller

Room With A View

He lives in one of the oldest structures in the park, a small
cabin on a hill that boasts the only light for miles. He doesn’t have a
television, but does have a vast library.

Fuller raised a family here, home schooling his two daughters
and teaching them the ways of nature. They've gone on to live their own lives - as did his wife - but Steve says he fit best, staying put.

At night, when Yellowstone's temperatures can dip to 20 below
zero, his books keep him company, as well as his cats. He stockpiles enough
food to get him through.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Roof Work

"It seems like it's the kind of job that would suit a hermit pretty well, or an eccentric pretty well," said CBS News' Lee Cowan.

"Never thought of myself as a hermit," replied Steve Fuller. "You know, I enjoy solitary time, but I very much enjoy people, too."

"Do you get lonely?"

"Never," he replied. "Never have. Never had cabin fever. Never been bored."

Credit: Steve Fuller

Ice

"I've seen many wonderful things here," he said. "Occasionally
get a picture of them. But a lot of the great pictures are in my head, you
know, that you couldn't quite pull off with a camera."

Some of the jewels Fuller has photographed have been featured in
National Geographic and other magazines.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Bison

Snow dunes in Hayden Valley.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Patterns

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Crystalline

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Bison

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Lake View

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Silhouette

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Bison

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Branches

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Low Light

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Geothermal

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

Credit: Steve Fuller

Ice Cone

A scene at Yellowstone National Park.

"All of this steam and moisture becomes super-cooled, so every time they touch something, they flash-freeze. Frost crystals, ice crystals are light-catchers. They're like jewels."